Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Vietnam and chair the 15th meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation at the invitation of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luang Quang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed. Earlier, it was reported that high-level Chinese officials may visit Vietnam within this year, and Wang Yi's trip is seen as preparation for the meeting between the leaders of China and Vietnam.
Reports said that during his visit to Vietnam, Wang Yi will meet with the General secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese President Vu Van Thuan. In addition, China and Vietnam will also hold foreign minister-level talks, and Wang Yi will hold talks with Vietnam's foreign Minister Le Hoa Trong.
China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and an important importer of raw materials. In 2022, bilateral trade between China and Vietnam increased by 5.5 percent to $175.5 billion. A few days ago, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao also met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Thien, saying that China will deepen and expand China-Vietnam trade and investment cooperation, continue to promote regional economic integration, and support enterprises of the two countries to carry out cooperation in strategic and emerging fields. China will also continue and expand imports of quality products from Vietnam.
Chinese and Vietnamese officials are also negotiating economic and trade issues, talks that senior Vietnamese officials say will further confirm Vietnam's importance in global supply chains as major powers, including the United States, vie for influence in Vietnam. Wang Yi will also have in-depth discussions with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luang Quang on bilateral trade relations and railway routes.
China and Vietnam are working on a potentially major upgrade of the underdeveloped rail link between Kunming and a Vietnamese port city to allow the line to pass through Vietnam's rare earth heartland and reach ports in the north near China. In October, Vietnam mentioned plans to upgrade the rail line, and Chinese officials have stressed the importance of strengthening infrastructure connections in Vietnam. Although the railway line between China and Vietnam has long been connected, the railway system of the two countries is not connected, and the railway transportation capacity of Vietnam is quite limited, and the goods from China can only stop at the port and "transfer" to the Vietnamese train. After the upgrading of Vietnam's railways, Vietnam's transportation capacity will be significantly improved and China-Vietnam trade will be more convenient.
It is worth noting that in the statements of Vietnamese officials, the focus is on the Vietnam Rare Earth Center. According to Reuters, Vietnam's upgraded railway line will pass through Vietnam's largest rare earth reserves, and the railway will bring greater convenience to Vietnam's rare earth transportation. Vietnam is rich in rare earths and has always wanted to build a rare earth industry chain comparable to China. The United States is also very interested in Vietnam's rare earths and is willing to invest in Vietnam. However, due to internal fighting, Vietnam has been unable to reach an agreement on key issues, and the construction plan of the rare earth industry chain is also progressing slowly. China is still the world's largest rare earth refining country, and Vietnam's rare earths are still sent to China for processing. Last week, rare earth industry experts from Vietnam and China also held discussions, and both sides expressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in rare earth processing.
The United States and other Western countries are concerned about China's monopoly in rare earth processing. Recently, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a visit to a lithium plant that the energy security of the United States depends on the stability of the supply chain, but the supply and production of key materials in the United States has been concentrated outside the country. The concentration of key supply chains in China leaves the United States vulnerable to the risk of supply disruptions.
Therefore, the United States is very concerned about Vietnam's rare earth industry, but Vietnam has not been able to come up with a two-prong plan, and the West is not willing to accept Vietnam's conditions. After Vietnam's rare earth industry chain was shelved, Vietnam wanted to earn foreign exchange through rare earths, it could only increase rare earth transportation to China. The planned railway upgrade may bring unimaginable benefits to Vietnam.
